Against The Tree Trunk
by deadskilletted
Summary: Over the summer, Percy Jackson and Leo Valdez take Nico di Angelo, who has almost always been in a wheelchair, to the park every weekend. And every weekend, Nico converses with Jason Grace, another teenager he meets. For Jasico VDay Challenge. Side Percy/Leo.


**Author's Note: Dedicated to kingburu! I hope you like this! [and that you don't find it**_**too**_**useless and wordy] Also, this was lightly edited on 3/27/2014.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO or HoO. Rights go to Rick Riordan.**

"Now don't go running off without us."

"We wouldn't want anything to happen to you. Right, Leo?"

"That's right, Percy." Their words dripped with sarcasm and mock worry, as if Nico could actually leave.

"You two are both the epitome of my annoyance."

Nico's comment was left unheard of by the duo, who had already run off into the park to do god-knows-what after sitting Nico down next to one of the trees that actually provided some shade. He groaned, leaning his head against the hard bark, and made sure his wheelchair wouldn't roll away from his side before closing his eyes.

Or at least almost closing his eyes. He sits bolt upright instead. Something had moved in the bushes in his peripheral vision. At first, he's wary, because he's obviously been reading too much about monsters recently (he reads too much about everything he gets his hands on; spending nearly all your time in a moving chair does that), and, what can he say, he can be paranoid sometimes. He still is until he somehow convinces himself it's a squirrel.

Except he's pretty sure that squirrels don't have blond hair that looks like a stray bullet was used to cut it instead of scissors, muddy purple shirts and worn out jeans, or are human sized, for that matter. As Nico realizes this, out steps a boy. He spots Nico looking at him strangely and, naturally, goes and sits right beside him.

"It's probably not a good idea to be at the park alone," he states staring straight ahead.

"Says the dude who just stepped out of a shrub," Nico says blatantly.

"True, true, but, seriously, are you here with anyone?" Nico wants to believe that this stranger is actually concerned about him and not the fact he has a wheelchair, though he can't be sure yet. _And besides, it's the beginning of the summer, aren't you supposed to be outside, or something?_ Nico asks himself mentally.

Looking over to search for Leo and Percy, he finds Leo trying to steal a kiss just to end up falling down the slide staring up at a cackling Percy. Nico sighs, vaguely gesturing to them with his head. "Do those idiots count?"

The boy follows Nico's gaze. "Who, Jackson and Valdez? Really? I guess they count." The boy hesitated and glanced worriedly behind his shoulder. "I kind of need to hide again, so, yeah, nice meeting you, and all." Standing up, he turned around one more time to say " 'M names Jason."

"Nico," said boy answers. Jason actually heard him before running off.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Jason wasn't sure whether to be surprised or excited that the boy, Nico, he thought he heard him say his name was the other day, was back at the park the following weekend. Or at the fact that he may or may not have been from Jason's school.

Apparently the happy medium was being flustered, since it took him a few minutes before being able to walk up to him without the fear of stuttering. "Hey, again."

Nico lifted his head and fixed his gaze on the person in front of him with an annoyed expression before softening, allowing Jason to realize that his eyes were really an dark chocolate brown and not the black he thought they were a second ago. "Oh, hi." He stuffs the cards he was shuffling around in his hands into his pocket. An awkward silence shortly follows until Nico says, "Need a place to hide? I suggest by the disappointed parents staring at my comrades." Jason lets out a short laugh before settling down on the ground, facing Nico.

"Nah, Thalia isn't chasing me this time. She says that - "

"Wait," Nico interrupts. "By any chance, is this girl you're talking about Thalia Grace? As in, like, the bow-and-arrow, silver-circlet girl, Thalia Grace?"

Jason isn't really sure how to respond at first. "Uh, yeah, she's my sister." Nico tensed slightly at the word sister, though Jason let it slide for now. No need to make small talk into some cliché what's-wrong conversation.

The dark-haired boy next to him scoffs. "You don't look alike."

"I've realized."

They watch Percy fall on his face when jumping off the swing set. Leo steals the kiss he missed out on last time.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico looks up from his cards to find, once more, a Jason Grace staring down at him, and, whoa, how did he not notice how blue his eyes were? Unlike Thalia's electric blue eyes, his were gentler and much more inviting, and currently glancing at the cards Nico was instinctively shoving in his pocket.

"What's on the cards? It isn't porn, is it?"

Nico blushes slightly, which he doesn't remember doing often, at the blunt question. "What!" he practically shrieks an octave higher, "No!" He quietly adds "I'll leave that for Leo to do..."

Jason laughs loudly, making Nico blush a little more, and that is _not supposed to happen_, then Jason asks, "Seriously, then what's so bad on there that I can't see?"

"My lack of social status and dignity," Nico deadpans.

"Well, I'd like to see them one day." After a moment, he adds, "I never got your last name even though you got mine. Want to - "

"Di Angelo."

"I was actually wondering if you wanted to hang out somewhere that isn't the park. It's obvious that Idiot 1 and Idiot 2 aren't gonna mind. Thanks for the full name, anyway, Nico Di Angelo."

Nico hesitantly accepts, mumbling a quick "Sure, Jason Grace," before redirecting his gaze. Since when was he so... _willing?_

"Besides," Jason comments, "They are too caught up in their slew of teenage hormones and experimental yet true love to pick out anything."

Nico nearly chokes on air.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Jason decides to take Nico to get ice cream ("Is it a bother to drag me along?" "It's the middle of the summer, we can get ice cream." "Can I at least go get money?" "Nope. My treat."). After getting consent from Percy, Jason helps him pick up Nico to put him in the wheelchair.

"I feel so helpless when people do that," Nico says once he is situated.

"Well, you're not, so kindly shut up so I can get us sweet, artificial, frozen shit."

Nico mimes zipping his mouth shut and throwing away the key. Then Jason mimes finding the key and unzipping Nico's mouth when they are about to eat, making the boy sport a ghost of a smile. Jason thinks that it's sweeter than the cotton candy ice cream.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

"What's got you so blue?" Nico asks. He notes his own choice of wording. He's been thinking of Jason's blue eyes and when he and Jason ate blue cotton candy ice cream way more than he should be.

Jason sags against defeated against the tree. "Break up," he grumbles.

"I can't say that I relate, 'cause I really kind of don't. Like at all." Nico figures it's true enough, considering he has never been in a relationship before. The closest he's gotten is unrequited love in elementary school and family issues.

"Thing is," Jason continues as if Nico never spoke at all, "I broke up with her. So it shouldn't bother me, but it just does. And I can't help thinking that she's really hurt and it would be my fault and I can't decide whether to be depressed or guilty or find her so I can explain myself a little better."

_My fault_. Those words echo through Nico's head like the annoying wind chimes Leo insisted on hanging on his door frame (needless to say, and a tiny bit off topic, Nico still hasn't found a way to get them off; he supposes that it's his fault, too, along with everything else). "Don't blame yourself," Nico suggests, no matter how hypocritical it is, and even though that probably wasn't the type of advice Jason was seeking. "It won't help."

"I know, I know, I guess." Jason bites his lip, and Nico totally doesn't watch him do so. "I guess it's just me being me, and if I don't love her, what good is it to her for me to pretend to?"

"I guess."

Nico and Jason sit in their own comfortable bubble of silence.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

"We're getting ice cream again, Mr. I-had-a-break-up-recently-or-so. Apparently that was all Percy did for like a month after he broke up with Annabeth. I'm not sure if you're as much of a loyal softie as him, though," Nico tells Jason while rolling up to him. Jason nods in acknowledgement and confirmation, and makes a move to grab the back of the wheelchair, but Nico swats at his hands.

"Nope," he says smoothly, "I can move around myself."

"Okay," Jason answers. He wondered why he had the sudden urge to protect Nico. He made it obvious he didn't want pity (even though Jason wouldn't call it pity, apparently Nico would), and it wasn't like he couldn't move the wheelchair himself. It was confusing Jason until he was able to muster his thoughts and transfer them to focusing on the angle of his spoon.

This time, instead of eating in comfortable silence, the two told stories and Jason watched Nico laugh and smile and it was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen or heard. Nico's whole face lit up brighter than Time Square when he smiled and sounded like a carefree six-year old when he laughed. Jason managed to make him do so as much as possible.

Both of them stealthily avoid choppy-water subjects.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico is sorting through his deck of cards like usual when Jason arrives, except unlike usual, he doesn't bother hiding them. Jason sneaks a peek to see the Pokemon-style trading cards that featured various mythological monsters and heroes. He watches the way his hair falls over his solemn face. Jason finds out quickly enough that the two were going to end up switching roles today from two weeks back.

"What's on your mind?"

"Memories," Nico replies in monotone. It scares Jason how much more emotionless the boy is acting. He misses the little lights in his eyes from last week.

"What kind of memories?"

"The stop-replaying-in-my-mind type of memories."

Jason knows he shouldn't pry. However, he's stupid and curious and does so anyway. "What's in them? Or is it a who?"

Nico falls silent for a few moments before murmuring "Bianca," nearly inaudibly.

"Who's that?" Jason doesn't realize he struck some sort of nerve until it's too late.

"She w-was my sister."

"Was?" Nico suppresses a strangled sob. Oh, great, Jason really needs to start thinking before he speaks (no matter how hard he finds it to concentrate in Nico's presence). "Oh my god, I'm so sorry, sorry, oh, why did I say that, sorry," he immediately starts apologizing.

"It's, it's okay. I bet you're used to talking to or about your family freely." Jason searched Nico's face as he said that, noting the stiffness, which broke a small part of Jason's heart.

"Actually, it's only me and Thals. And you've got me you can call, just, don't cry, please."

Nico attempted to obey the request, and Jason pretended to ignore if a tear slipped every now and again, choosing to grab Nico's hand and squeeze instead.

Percy and Leo leave them be for a while.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Embarrassed by his slight sobbing the previous Sunday, Nico hung his head low as Percy pushed him into the park the next weekend, hoping that Jason might not see him (even though he knew that he would spot him eventually; a kid in a wheelchair is pretty hard to miss). If he could stand, he probably would've been shuffling his feet across the grass. They got pretty far with Leo in tow, until Jason came running up to them with Thalia a little ways behind.

"Need, better, hiding, spots," Jason manages to spit out while hunched over, hands on his knees, breathing after every word. Nico attempts to avoid glancing at him. Attempts. He is meddling with Nico's mind and Nico knows it.

"Jason! You can't just leave every Sunday, you know!" a female voice belonging to bow-and-arrow, silver-circlet girl, Thalia screams. Jason looks frightened for a moment. The expression is replaced by exhaustion. "Well then," she says, stopping next to her brother, "I wasn't exactly expecting to see Percy, Valdez, or di Angelo."

"Nice seeing you too, Grace," Nico comments under his breath.

"Don't call me that," Thalia snaps back.

Suddenly, Leo finds the best time to contribute to the conversation. "Aw, did Nico find a boy and didn't tell us? How could you?" He dramatically put a hand over his heart.

"What? No!" Nico squeaks shrilly like he did when he was accused of carrying around porn. Jason chuckles, sounding vaguely hurt. Nico doesn't catch it.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Ultimately, Thalia does. She brings her brother over to the side when she finally manages to force him home.

"What's up with you?" she demands after shutting the door.

"What do you mean?" Jason asks, looking genuinely confused, though not enough to stop Thalia from scoffing.

"You and that boy. The one in the wheelchair. What's the deal with you two?"

Jason thinks he might be sweating, and hopes that is not the case. "Well, uh, we met, and, we talked, and he's helped me sneak around you on the weekends before, and, don't you know him?"

"Of course I know di Angelo! Did you not recognize him from school?"

"I recognized him," Jason insists, "I just didn't think he recognized me, or knew me, and I know that."

Thalia rests a hand on her brother's shoulder. "Should I be teasing you or worried?"

"What?"

"Do you like the kid?"

"He's my friend. Why are you-" Thalia shushes him.

"Don't deny it, Jason, I know why you broke it off with Piper, and I know why Piper accepted it and moved on," Thalia starts. Jason would've wondered how Thalia knew why Piper was fine with breaking up if he wasn't so bewildered. His sister turns away from him, walking into the kitchen. "Besides, you're blushing as red as a cherry right now."

Jason can't help it when his face heats up even more.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Nico couldn't get Percy and Leo out of his face and off his throat for the next hour or so. He always hated his wheelchair, but sometimes he _really_ hated it. It made escape pretty much impossible. Not that he wasn't already rooted into place by the flood of words.

"So you've been hanging out with Jason Grace?"

"I remember him. Wore a Superman shirt the first day I met him."

"When did you get to know each other?"

"He's too blond for that."

"Have we missed something in plain sight again?"

"Yeah, like, seriously, wait, hold on."

"What, Leo?"

"That's who I saw talking to him the other day."

"He was with someone and you didn't tell me?"

"Nope. Now, Nico, tell me, do you like blond Superman? Because you know I like messing with love lives that aren't my own."

"Leo! I'm supposed to ask that, I've know him longer! I get to tease him about his little crush first!"

"Shut. Up." Nico wore an expression of both embarrassment and exasperation. "Who said I had a crush on him?"

"Your blushing cheeks and ironically poor lying skills," Leo suggests. Nico groaned in frustration.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

Jason notices that both him and Nico are absolute flushed, stuttering messes next time they see each other. He plops down and doesn't bother to correct his lack of words.

Neither does Nico as he slips his cards out of his pocket and hands them to Jason. And Jason starts staring at the little monsters and gods and heroes and he can't even concentrate because whoa, he fell for this kid over the summer and didn't even know it, and now he is showing Jason what he inferred to be one of his more prized possessions. Maybe they were Bianca's.

"Cool," Jason says offhandedly, with the inability to think of a more eloquent response.

"Maybe," Nico replies on the same faraway tone. Then somehow they end up staring at each other. Jason doesn't remember them sitting this close before. Their hands intertwine. They continue to stare.

- ... .. ... .. ... .- .-.. .. -. . -... .-. . .- -.-

They're kissing.

And Jason is lost, so lost, because didn't he complain about breaking up with his girlfriend only a few weeks ago? He realizes he shouldn't of, this is so much better, this is so much more real, yet at the same time he felt like he was dreaming (he could also feel that both of them sucked at kissing; that was okay).

When Jason lets Nico start to lick his lips, a familiar voice snorts "Already forgot about me?"

He almost says yes after he and Nico break apart until he comes to his senses that _that's rude_ and that Piper is here for some reason holding Thalia's hand - _wait_. _His ex girlfriend was holding his older sister's hand_.

"Eh," Piper continues, "I've started dating someone, too." Piper kisses Thalia on the cheek, making her blush. Since when did Thalia blush?

"Uh," is Jason's intelligent answer. Nico's pink ears and clutching hand aren't exactly helping his though process.

"You can keep hiding from me on the weekends, if you want, Jason," Thalia tells him. "I'll know where you are. I have my own love life to take care of, anyway."

In the center of the park, Leo falls on top of a laughing Percy, who starts placing kisses all over Leo's face.

By the tree at the edge of the park, Jason and Nico do the same.

**Author's Note: On Nico in the wheelchair - In a lot of parts of the PJO/HoO series, Nico is described as shuffling or leaning on his sword. I'm basing it off of some headcanons and such where people are saying "what if Nico has some sort of joint problem or trouble walking or..." [and also I just wanted to include it because why not]**


End file.
